The Cane as a Weapon

So one of the other books I've gotten recently was a little ebook called "The Cane as a Weapon". It's only 80 pages long or something, and it's heavily illustrated making it even less to read, but it's fascinating to me. It was written by a man called A. C. Cunningham back in 1912. Mr. Cunningham, it turns out, was a civil engineer who worked for the navy... But also an avid fencer, being extremely active in one or more fencing clubs around the DC area and leading a team for a while. In 1902 he wrote a manual for the navy about sabre and bayonet fighting. And in 1912, he wrote a manual about defending oneself with the things a gentleman may be expected to carry - that is, a cane and at least sometimes a hat.

It goes through three stances, various attack and defense maneuvers, how to react to specific types of attacks (punches, kicks, slashes and stabs with a knife, dogs, guns, grappling...), and even lays out a series of little combinations to practice. Like... From a left guard: right high cut to right, left swinging cut to left, change guard forward, right high cut, recover. Or... From a double guard, right: With both hands, jab right with the butt, strike front with the point, jab rear with the point, strike left with the butt, recover.

I've read through the entire thing, and will go back and re-read pieces of it and pick up some of the exercises once I have a good cane to practice with... Which at the moment I don't.

Anyone recommend any nice, straight, hickory canes they know of?

President Nixon Rides Again!

Ball park announcer: "Who do you think will be the next president?"
Contestant: "Richard Nixon!"
Ball Park Announcer: "...All right. I wonder what colour you dream in."

House of the Sun

So I just finished reading the Nigel Findley Shadowrun Novel Collection, which I've read all of more than once before, but still I enjoyed. It was interesting - I payed a bit more attention this time than I have historically, I ended up feeling. Which is fine and all but occasionally disconcerting. The last book in the collection was "House of the Sun", about a Shadowrunner who goes to Hawaii (or Hawai'i, to be vaguely more correct) and gets involved in a bunch of stuff way over his head. It's an interesting book, in that frankly, he spends most of it whining about things being over his head and him just getting pushed from one thing to the next... While everyone around him seems to be begging him to use his influence to help fix events. He ends up trying to twist things to his own benefit (to recover his sister from a spirit that's inhabited her, actually, though it's played almost more like a cult)... But even though everything pretty much turns out well he ends the book alone and bitter and angry as all the things around him are getting better.

I ended up going back and forth in my head about whether or not I liked the writing, but either way, I could definitely appreciate the ending. I just like the fact that it's so atypical more than anything else, I guess.

Either way. It's an ending I can respect.

Renegades!

First game in like two seasons. Wheeeee...